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  Java Practices -> Naming conventions
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<div class='page-title'>Naming conventions</div>

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<br>It is common to use a variable naming convention to distinguish between
fields, arguments, and local variables.
<p>Within the body of a method, all of these types of variables can appear.
Many find naming conventions to be a helpful aid in getting a rapid understanding
of a method's implementation. These conventions have only one purpose :
to pour understanding into the brain of the reader as quickly
as possible.

<p><span class='highlight'>To understand a method, you need to understand its data. An important
part of understanding data is understanding <em>where it is defined</em> - as a
field, argument, or local variable.</span> 
Naming conventions which distinguish
these cases usually allow the reader to understand an implementation more
quickly, since they no longer need to scan the class to determine where
items are defined.
<p>Some different styles are :
<ul>
<li>field : <tt>_blah, blah_, fBlah, this.blah, m_blah, myBlah</tt></li>
<li>argument : <tt>aBlahBlah, pBlah</tt></li>
<li>local variable : <tt>blahBlah</tt></li>
<li>constant : <tt>BLAH_BLAH</tt></li>
</ul>
As well, some use a naming convention for type names, to distinguish between
interfaces and regular classes :
<ul>
 <li>interface : <tt>IBlahBlah</tt></li>
 <li>class : <tt>BlahBlah, CBlahBlah</tt></li>
</ul>
Note that this <tt>'I'</tt> and <tt>'C'</tt> convention is fundamentally
different from the other conventions mentioned above. This convention is
visible to the caller, while the other naming conventions, being confined
to the implementation, are not.
<p>The example code on this site usually follows these conventions :
<ul>
<li>
field : <tt>fBlahBlah</tt></li>

<li>
argument : <tt>aBlahBlah</tt></li>

<li>local variable : <tt>blahBlah</tt></li>

<li>constant : <tt>BLAH_BLAH</tt></li>

<li>
class : <tt>BlahBlah</tt></li>

<li>
interface : <tt>BlahBlah</tt> (same as class)</li>
</ul>
The <a href="TopicAction4d0e-2.html">return value of a method</a> is sometimes given
a conventional name as well.

<P>See also <a href='http://java.sun.com/docs/codeconv/html/CodeConventions.doc8.html'>Sun's remarks</a> on naming conventions in general.
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<div class='topic-section'>See Also :</div>
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  <a href='TopicAction4d0e-2.html?Id=63'>Conventional name for return value</a> <br>
 
  
  <a href='TopicActionb533-2.html?Id=115'>Coding conventions</a> <br>
 
  
  <a href='TopicAction56bf-2.html?Id=227'>Avoid basic style errors</a> <br>
 
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